Rules and regulations

The by-laws and permits needed for renovating were touched on before, but now its importance needs to be highlighted. Choosing not to follow the rules may result in your renovation not working properly or make the future selling of your home more difficult. You will want the paperwork to validate that the improvements you made to your home will not fall apart.

Reminder: never skip a step

I had a friend tell me their friend was going to build them a bathroom in their basement. She wanted to avoid the ordeal of getting a permit. This made me cringe. Did this friend have the knowledge and skills to do the plumbing and wall installation? Turns out, after he finished his work, my friend had problems with getting water to other areas of the house. By getting a permit, you will avoid hiring unqualified contractors and the fines if you get caught.

To avoid the following problems, it’s best to get the permits and follow the by-laws of your city. You might discover you don’t need a permit for some jobs. However, you should see if your city has provided you with guidelines for your renovations. Whether it sounds like more work or money, give the suggested guidelines fair consideration as they are in your best interest.

Structure

There are reasons why by-laws and permits are in place and it’s ultimately in your benefit as it ensures your safety. If you’re taking a wall down, building one up or creating a staircase, you want to ensure it doesn’t fall apart on you, causing you harm or loss of money.

Window

At first thought, a window permit might seem like a weird requirement but it’s for your protection. Permits will require you to use the right kind of glass, one that shatters like tempered glass would. In the case of a fire, the size of the window should not prevent you from getting out nor disable firefighters from getting in.

Plumbing/ gas

To have your plumbing done incorrectly can become a huge bump in your renovation process as it affects the plumbing throughout the whole house. This goes for gas too, which you don’t want to be messing around with anyways.

Electrical

Working with an electrical current is dangerous. Don’t put yourself at risk by doing a job you do not know how to do. If the electrical installation is done by someone who has minimal knowledge of the job, it can cause outages or start fires.